The Genesis League: Ch. 1
CHAPTER ONE ~BRUTUS~ In Ruins BEING A DEMIGOD SUCKS. WHOEVER DECIDED that the gods would start mating with humans was an idiot. I don't think people understand how difficult ''it is to be half-human and half-something else. Forget the something else; being anything but simply human is bad enough. It's the year 4000; the 39th century. Demigods have been around since ancient times, and now humans know it too. A few years ago, during the Battle of Pyrus Peak, the demigod children of Hephaestus decided to aid the humans in their fight against the allied forces of the Underworld. You could say it was a success, I suppose. We won the war, of course, but at the cost of many lives. And at the cost of our dignity. Shunned, ridiculed, and even tortured, demigods were driven into hiding by modern society. You might ask why they shunned us if we helped them win the war they were so drastically losing. Good question. I've been asking myself the same one since I was born. My name is Daeman Kane. Yes, yes; I ''know my name sounds like demon. I've been teased and bullied because of that my name, my whole life. I blame my father for it; being the Lord of the Dead tends to make you think of stupid names to call your children. But no matter- I've fixed this problem. I go by Brutus- a name I picked up from a Roman history book. Brutus was the founder of the Roman Republic over four thousand years ago. It fit perfectly, considering the position I was in. Like I said, my father was the Lord of the Dead...a.k.a. Hades. Being a god, he had stayed with my mother for about three minutes after I was born and then had hauled tail out of our lives. I can't say I blame him either. Scotland isn't really a beautiful place anymore. I grew up in Edinburgh, Scotland with my mother Laila. We spent our days in the house, never going outside for fear of getting mugged...or worse. I had to turn myself into a man quickly, so that I could protect my mother. The green, rolling hills of Scotland were no longer there to hide the country folk, and the robotics industry was taking over the country. To save me the life of a factory worker, my mom had sent me to Rome, Italy. To boarding school. So here I was. The son of Hades- another ''demigod hiding ''another ''secret-, stuck in a stuffy, dust covered class room. In a wooden desk. Trying to ignore the sound of the teacher's nails scraping across the old school, forest green chalk board. Oh, how sweet life is. '~ ~ ~' Cold, slippery rain poured down on our heads, plastering our hair to the back of our necks. The cobblestone streets of Rome were sleek and smooth, like newly spread butter. The sound of the rain drops stabbing at umbrellas like razor sharp daggers was enough to keep me from falling asleep as our teacher lectured us about the Roman Colosseum. I rubbed my wet, blood shot eyes. I never listened to Mrs. Caroline, not even on her best days. Roman history didn't interest me, no matter how important it was to know for a demigod. Looking up into the rain dotted sky, I let out a could sigh of exhaustion. Four years of my life had been spent studying my arse off here at ''Potestas Academia. I was a senior now, the last days of high school having rolled out upon me. I was 18, a legal adult everywhere in the world. In a matter of weeks I would be a high school graduate, on my way to some expensive college over seas in America, most likely. It didn't matter, however. No matter what job I obtained, no matter what life I lived...nothing would change the fact that I will forever ''and ''always be a demigod. "Be on your way, children," our instructor suddenly said. Under her scarlet red umbrella, her hair waved wildly in the wind, her shimmering green eyes sparkling like morning dew on grass. As she sat down comfortably on a bench near the entrance of the Colosseum, I realized that she had just dismissed us to explore the ruins of ancient Rome. The swarm of children that was composed of 9th through 12th grade began to make their way towards the entrance. Standing there in the cold, freezing spring rain...I surprisingly felt comfortable. As the water poured down my sleek, tanned neck, I closed my eyes and exhaled deeply. The world was such a beautiful place, yet it was becoming polluted with the advancing industries of technology and robotics... If only the world could be just as natural as rain... My eyes wandered down towards a puddle at my feet. It was quickly gathering water, turning into a miniature, clear lake that would impress any bug. My reflection was as clear as daylight on this cloud, afternoon. My shadowy black eyes gazed out at me from the earth below; a deep abyss of swirling secrets and pain. My wet, slick hair hung low over my face, making me appear to be a lonely, dark train wreck. My lips were chapped from the cold air, the cold, pale, blue color of them scaring me somewhat. I suited my name. I looked like a demon. And suddenly an angel's face was next to mine, in the puddle-mirror I had lost my thoughts to. I looked up to see Raven Morgan, my oldest friend here at the boarding school. Raven was beautiful- a mere goddess in a mortal's body. Her straight, shoulder-length black hair shimmered in the dim light of the day, the rain drops in her hair making her sea blue eyes stand out like diamonds. Her slightly tanned skin was the perfect shade of brown; as if someone had dipped her in a pot of caramel and given her the body fit for a queen. She had muscle, but just the right amount of it. Her slender, curvy physique made her one of the most attractive girls in our school, if not the most attractive. And her lips were perfect; full and pink, as if she was waiting for her knight in shining armor to come and sweep her off her feet with a gentle kiss... Raven smacked me hard over the head, her palm ricocheting off of my face at the speed of a bullet. "Ow!" I winced, rubbing my forehead softly. "What the hell?!" Raven glared at me, hands on her delicate hips. She had the look she always had on her face; a smirk that was one of anger, yet playfulness. "See?! You didn't even hear me!" she groaned, stifling a small, cute giggle. "I said 'let's go explore the ruins inside', kid!" She hugged my softly, reassuring me that she wasn't angry at me in the slightest. I sighed happily. Raven was the closest thing to a best friend I had here. We had met at Freshman orientation, connecting over our love of Greek mythology. For the next for years, we had become best friends. But...I had never had the guts to ask her out. For a son of Hades (one of the "Big Three"), I sure was a wimp. Raven slipped her hand through mine gently, though I knew it meant nothing. She'd always done this, from the first day we'd met. Dragging me across the rain covered cobblestone, we approached the entrance of the Colosseum. As the tall, rectangular shaped gateway grew closer, I could hear a faint shouting noise. It sounded like a man and a woman arguing over...pasta? "Do you hear that?" I asked Raven, following behind her closely. Raven giggled happily. "Of course I do. They're at it again, Brutus. She thinks he ate her pasta." "Who?" I said, confused. "Who do you think?" she laughed as we turned the corner. Standing in the center of entry way of the Colosseum were Tyrese Amberthone and Bailey Willow- two of my closest friends. Tyrese was like my brother, and was the closest thing I'd ever had to one. I'd met him and all his overconfidence when we had discovered we were dorm mates. Ever since then we'd been partying, studying, and playing soccer together for ages. Tyrese was the same height as me, around 6'2". His dark skin stuck out amongst the predominantly white faces that crowded our boarding school. Short, black hair and chestnut brown eyes defined his strong, muscular build perfectly. Tyrese was a native Greek, from the island of Crete. It was kind of ironic that Tyrese was the only one who knew my secret...because I knew his as well. Tyrese was the son of Tyche, the Greek goddess of luck. I'd always wondered how he got perfect scores on exams just by guessing. One day, though, he had finally just confessed. The fact that we were both demigods- sharing the same fears, and the same possibility of being shunned and exiled-, it had bonded us closer than any mortal brothers could possibly hope to be. Bailey Willow, however, was completely different. She was your typical mortal girl- young, crazy, and very, very ''loud. Her waist length brown hair was tied back into a pony tail, her forest green eyes standing out amongst all of ours. Her skin was pale white, but not enough to make her look like a ghost. She was a short girl, but she was feisty. She and Tyrese had been fighting the whole four years we'd all been at boarding school. If not for the fact that she was Raven's best friend, Tyrese and I probably would've permanently ignored her the first day of Freshman year. Not surprisingly though, they were fighting now. "You ate it all! I told you to save me some, you blunt brained idiot!" Bailey hissed at Tyrese, waving a plastic Tupperware cup of pasta in his face. "Blunt brained idiot?! You're the one who didn't bring enough for all four of us!" Tyrese barked, his hands in his pockets. Bailey's face was blushing a beet root shade of red as she glared at my friend. "Are you calling me stupid?!" "You sad it, not me!" Tyrese smirked in enthusiasm, rolling his eyes at his "enemy". "Ugh!" Bailey groaned. In one swift flick of the hand, Bailey's afternoon pasta was cascading down Tyrese's head like streams of water. Tyrese glared at her with eyes of red hot fury, his left hand sending the pasta and sauce off of his face and on to the cobblestone below. "You...are such...a brat!!!" he barked, storming off into the Colosseum. "Don't you insult me and walk away!!!" Bailey snapped, storming off after him. Raven, who was laughing hysterically on my shoulder, looked up at me and gave a cute, fake pout. "Such a waste of good pasta..." We both burst out laughing, our feet moving forward as we followed our two friends into the arena. Today was starting off on the right foot...I just hoped it ended that way. '~ ~ ~' We trudged through the dirt and rubble, my feet kicking up small, moss covered pebbles here and there. The inside of the arena was littered with ruins. Half-broken pillars, crumbled benches, and chipped statues polluted the dirt and grass floor that served as our walkway. Pieces of marble and stone were scattered across our path as we navigated carefully over the millenia old ruins. "So much history here," Raven said, gazing up towards the stands above. Her eyes sparkled like crystals in admiration, something I adored so much about her. She got excited over the most bookworm-ish things, yet still found time to be fun and silly. I didn't realize how long I'd been staring at Raven until I rain into the dark haired girl in front of me. We fell to the ground in a heap of dust and rock, her weight landing on my foot and sending a stabbing pain up my leg. I winced in agony as she quickly lifted herself off me. "Oh my god! I'm so sorry!" she said in a British accent, her big, dark blue eyes wide in exasperation. She was young, with the facial futures to match. She looked around thirteen or fourteen, with dark brown hair that fell to her middle-back. Her eyes glowed in the rain like lanterns and she looked cold and scared. "Stupid freshman," I hissed with no mercy, lifting myself off the cold, hard ground and turning to walk the other way. "What'd you call her?" a voice called from behind me. I turned to see a young, medium-height boy approaching behind the girl. He had a runner's build; strong toned legs and a well defined chest. He had short, light brown hair and matching hazel eyes, with which he used to examine the girl I had previously run into. His face was impish, like an elf's. Perky ears, a small nose, and beady eyes were what glared at me with such intensity, I almost felt slightly uncomfortable. His head was small, but his arms made up for it in muscle as he wrapped his arm around the girl. "Get off of me, Logan," the girl winced at his touch, shrugging his arm off. "I'm fine." The boy named Logan let his arm fall to his side, his face flushing a pale white. "S-sorry Quinn...I was just trying to help." "Like I said," Quinn smiled softly, patting his shoulder in forgiveness. "I-I'm fine..." I rolled my eyes. Freshman were so stupid. As if reading my mind, the young boy hissed at me intently, his eyes dead set on mine. "We're not freshman, dude. We're sophomores." "Not much difference." I threw my hands up, signaling for them to "run along". They made no such move. "Bryce!" Logan called out suddenly. "Can we get some...'assistance' over here?!" Suddenly, as if by teleportation, a young boy appeared next to Logan. At first I nearly jumped in surprise. Logan and Bryce looked ''exactly ''the same. Same hair color, same eye color, same impish features. Nothing seemed out of place. I was convinced they were flawless clones. But suddenly, Bryce began to crack his knuckles, his arms bending slightly so he could do so. The amount of muscle on his arms was a bucket load more than his brother's, and I realize that they were twins. "What's the problem, Logan?" Bryce said, grinding his teeth as he glared forcefully at me. "This upperclassmen was picking on Quinn and I," Logan snarled in my direction. "Should we rough him up?" Bryce grinned, showing perfect, pearly white teeth. "Gladly." I stared at them with such annoyance that I nearly burst out laughing. "You've ''got ''to be kidding me right?" The two boys charged, their sneakers scraping up dust as the flew forward. Fist aimed straight for my face, they approached with incredible speed... And knocked them flat on their arses. My hands slammed into their chests, sending them flying to the dirt below. With a dual ''oof ''they both fell to the floor in a heap of dust and rubble. "Rule number one, cubs," I said, bending down to whisper to them. "Don't pick on upperclassmen. It'll only get your arse kicked." "Brutus!" I clenched my eyes tight in regret as I turned around to see Raven, hands on her hips and her face a deep, blood red. "Really? Picking fights with sophomores?! How old ''are ''you? Five?!" she groaned, slapping me upside the head. I rubbed the spot angrily as she bent down to help the twins off the ground. They smiled in thanks, but their gratitude swiftly turned to anger towards me. "Are you two okay?" Raven said in her motherly tone, sweeping dust off of their red and black school uniforms. "Yes ma'am," Logan said in unison with his brother. "We're fine..." Raven smiled warmly, her love spreading over all of us. "What're your names?" "Bryce and Logan Hudson," Bryce said softly, to ashamed to look into Raven's eyes. I knew the feeling. She was so loving and kind, that anything bad you did made it feel like you were sinning against an angel. "Well, Bryce and Logan...try not to anger Brutus, please? He's not really someone you want to-," she looked back at me, then back to the twins, "-anger." Bryce and Logan nodded as Quinn walked up towards her friends. "Hey, twins? Have you seen Cheshire anywhere...?" Suddenly there was a loud ''snap ''and small firecracker fell down from the sky, going off at Quinn's feet. She screamed in terror, falling face first into the ground. All of us looked up to see a young, slender girl perched ontop of a slightly broken, marble pillar. The girl had insanely long black hair that was tied back into a pony tail. Her skin was slightly tanned, and her school uniform was free of sleeves- as if she had ripped them off. Her green eyes were dull and dark, like the dark jungle leaves of the rain forests. Her feet were covered in heavy, black combat boots and her hands were guarded by camouflage colored gloves. In the single most horrible British accent I've ever heard, the girl called out in a soft, mysterious voice, "Only a few find the way, some don't recognize it when they do - some... don't ever want to." Quinn sprung up from the ground, rubbing a red knot on her forehead that she had received from her previous fall. "Cheshire you idiot! You're such a pain in the arse!" "Only the insane equate pain with success," Cheshire said, hopping down from atop the pillar. "Ugh! Stop quoting the Cheshire Cat! You're never make any sense!" Quinn groaned. "I apologize, Quinn..." Cheshire said, rubbing her arms in the frigid afternoon air. "Who are these people?" "I'm Raven Morgan, and this is Brutus Kane," Raven smiled towards the confused sophomores. "Nice to meet you," Quinn said, smiling back. "I'm Quinn Morris, and this is Bryce and Logan Hudson. And that's Cheshire Armando." "Nice to meet you too, Quinn," Raven said. "Those are our friends, Tyrese Amberthone and Bailey Willow." Raven pointed behind us to our friends who were now sitting on a broken, marble bench...''still ''arguing about split pasta. Silence washed over us like an immense wave of noiselessness as we all stood there, playing with our thumbs or biting our nails. Sophomores and seniors never really associated at our skill, and I, personally, didn't like the idea of being the first to do so. The day would've ended fine with us going back to school and never talking to each other again. But me being me, I just ''had ''to find that god damn door. As I walked forward to Raven, ready to tell her "Let's go", my skin began to burn. My skull throbbed with such ferocity, I was sure it was going to explode. My heart beat faster than humanly possible; good thing I'm a demigod. I fell to the ground, spit and bile spilling out of my mouth as I coughed up a storm. "Brutus?!" Raven called, rushing to my side. Her hand sailed down my back like soft, silk sheets, stroking my shoulders softly. "I-I'm fine..." I said, my eyes still angled on the ground. "Fine...I'm fine..." And then I saw it. I took my gaze from the earth to the ruins ahead, and I saw the burning blue symbol, bright as day: γένεση My eyes widened as the Greek letters flamed to life across the broken wall on the ground. "D-do you see that?" I said in shock, my lip trembling. Raven looked ahead and suddenly her eyes widened as well. "What in the world...?" "I see it too," the twins said in unison, their voices quivering in nervousness. "What ''is ''that?" Quinn said, with Cheshire giving a small "Whoa..." behind her. I slowly and carefully lifted myself off the ground, turning my head towards Tyrese. His eyes were wide and shaky, the whites of them red with blood. We nodded towards each other in understanding: this was Greek, we were demigods, and so was everyone else. No mortal would be able to see those enchanted, flaming words. My eyes widened in terror at the thought of all these people being demigods just like me. I could not risk having all these people's lives ruined...especially not Raven's... "Let's...um...go, guys." I turned, Tyrese by my side, ready to make a run for it if anything happened... The rumbling came next. The broken wall suddenly split in two, revealing a long, dark passage way into the earth below. Everyone's eyes widened except for mine. The underground was my habitat. I knew it like the back of my hand. If anything scared me, it was the cold, merciless sky. "S-should we go in?" Bailey asked, her lips trembling in fear. I took a deep breath, closing my eyes tight and opening them again. I could feel the magic barrier that surrounded the Colosseum now, even if the others couldn't. "I don't think we have a choice, Bailey," I said fearfully, walking slowly and cautiously towards the naturally-made earth steps that descended into the tunnel below. "Just...stay behind me. Everything will be alright..." As we began our descent into the underground, I took a deep breath- praying to Hades that everything would be alright. From behind me, Tyrese whispered in my ear. "You know Greek, right?" he asked, his voice stern and cold as he tried to regain his focus. I nodded. "What did that word mean?" I took another deep breath as the dirt ceiling above magically, and mysteriously, closed with a loud ''thud! "It means genesis." -End of Chapter One- Category:The Genesis League Category:Bladewood 2.0